//------------------------------// // For every action... // Story: Chasing a Dream [Cancelled] // by KillerRobotQuote //------------------------------// The recent rainfall gives the whole trail a deep, chocolate-colored look. The dirt is wet, but not sloppy enough to be called mud. Droplets fall from the green tree leaves onto the ground-level foliage, mimicking the sound of rainfall. The clouds part and the sun starts to shine through, illuminating the forest with streaks of light. He looks to the sky and sees a brief flash of color. Making his way to a small clearing, he sees an arching prism of colors glowing faintly in the sky. Entranced by its beauty, he starts following it. Every few feet, he finds a new spot with a break in the trees to make out the colors and continues following the fascinating display. Before long, the trees clear out completely. The sky is unobstructed, and he can see the rainbow in its entirety. Before him sprawls a wide field of light green grass. Patches of flowers appear in various spots among the field. The raindrops resting on the blades of grass make the whole field shimmer. He wants to roll around in the grass and forget all of his troubles. A few pink butterflies land on a patch of flowers nearby and start pollinating. Everything is peaceful. Quiet, serene, and peaceful. Night gently massaged his belly with his hand as he made his way down the sidewalk. Though the pain was enough to make him wince, the bruising that Rainbow Dash had left yesterday wasn’t bad. It’d be gone by the end of the day. Shrugging, Night adjusted the strap of his backpack and continued walking. “Night!” a familiar voice called. Night turned around to see Minuette running up to him. “Lyra told me what happened yesterday. Are you okay?” Night smirked. “Yeah, I’m fine. Bit of a frank exchange of ideas. Nothing to worry about.” “Are you sure?” Minuette asked with concern. “Because if she’s giving you trouble-” “Min, seriously, everything’s fine. Rainbow and I actually left on pretty good terms.” Minuette glanced to the side. “Well, okay. I just don’t want you getting hurt in a fight or anything.” “Oh, please. Me? Get hurt in a fight? With this build?” Night started flexing his muscles. Minuette quickly sized him up. “Yep. They’d snap you like a twig.” “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” The two shared a laugh as they reached the entrance to the school. Night was happy to see the courtyard free of any debris or construction workers. The constant noise of workers repairing the front of the school after the infamous incident at the Fall Formal was enough to drive anyone crazy. Now that they were finished, school was slightly less miserable to attend. Night glanced over to the field where he had been chasing Minuette yesterday. He cringed a little when his eyes fell upon a patch where the grass had been torn up from someone being dragged along the ground. “Night?” “Hm? What?” Night turned to face Minuette. “I was just wondering,” Minuette started. For some reason though, Minuette wasn’t looking at Night. In fact, she seemed to be deliberately looking away from him. “I need to tell you something.” “Yeah? What is it?” “It’s kind of important.” Night’s playful attitude was immediately replaced with a serious one. “Oh, I see. Do you want to talk about it now, or…?” “Actually, I’d like to tell you in private. Would it be okay if I come over after school today?” Night nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. No problem. I’m happy to talk to you about anything. Just let me know, okay?” “So I’ll see you after school?” “Well, I have practice after school today. Setting aside time to shower after I get back… you want to stop by around six?” Minuette nodded. “Alright, I’ll see you then. Remember, I’m always here for you, okay?” Night smiled and held out his arms. Instead of reciprocating the hug, Minuette stood locked in place, staring straight at the ground. Upon closer inspection, Night saw that her face was flushed red. “M-Min? Are you-?” “ThanksI’llseeyouthenbye!” Minuette sped away into the crowded halls of Canterlot High. Night looked on with concern. “Geez, this is really eating her up. I hope she’s okay.” Night slouched in his seat, waiting for the first period bell to ring. He had given up on the idea of reading his book before class and instead decided to find out if he could relax so much that he would literally melt into a puddle. “I’m telling you, she got in a fight with some guy during lunch,” the gray guy in the group of three friends to Night’s right stressed. “Half of the cafeteria saw it.” The tan guy shook his head. “If none of us saw it, then I don’t believe it. Rainbow would never do that.” “I heard the same thing,” the blue guy added. “Pinkie said so herself.” “Yeah, and the bae, too.” The tan guy shook his head again. “That doesn’t sound like her at all.” “Are you kidding?” the blue guy laughed. “She’s the first one I would pick to do that!” “Shut up, Swift!” The tan guy shot up in his seat, causing the whole desk to lurch forward. The sudden outburst caught the attention of the entire class, shocking everyone into silence. Night’s ears perked up as he observed the scene unfolding in the eerie stillness of the room. “Whoa, Rivet, calm down,” the gray guy pleaded, stepping between Rivet and Swift. “He didn’t mean anything by that.” “Yeah, sure he didn’t,” Rivet scoffed. “Rivet,” Swift spoke gently. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to imply that Rainbow is violent. She’s just really excitable. I’m not trying to talk bad about her, honest.” Rivet stood still for a moment, trying to calm himself down. Once he did, he slowly sat back down and looked at Swift. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “That wasn’t right of me. I just… I’m having a hard time believing that she got in a fight with somebody out of nowhere.” “Well, actually-” the gray guy said. “That’s not what happened.” The three guys turned in the direction of the new voice. Night suddenly felt self-conscious when he found himself being stared at by the three guys. He blinked as his eyes darted around to each person. After an awkward five-second lapse, Night finally connected the dots. Wait, did I just say that? Swift’s face looked puzzled as he scrutinized the new person. “Wait, aren’t you Night?” “Um…” Swift’s face lit up. “Yeah! You’re the one who got in the fight with Rainbow!” The guys all gave Night a funny look, the most notable one being Rivet’s. Not knowing what else to do, Night broke into light, awkward laughter. “Yeah, that’s me. But I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds!” he hurriedly added. Rivet’s glare lightened, but he continued to stare with suspicion. “Seriously, it was just a little mix-up. We both jumped the gun a little, we both served detention, and now we’re actually on good terms.” “Really? So, are you, like, friends now?” Rivet asked. “I… yeah, I guess so.” At that moment, the bell signifying the start of class rang. “That’s cool,” the gray guy remarked. “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of you.” “I… uh… yeah. Yeah, sure.” Puzzled, Night turned in his seat to face Miss Cheerilee at the front of the room, who was massaging her temples like she had a pounding headache. Wait, what did he mean by that? It was the fourth period of the day, which meant Phys Ed was starting for Night. After changing into athletic shorts, Night slammed his gym locker shut and headed outside. Today’s class was taking place on the track encircling the football field. As he strolled toward the field, he heard the patter of feet approaching him from behind. Night cringed as he awaited the inevitable. A hand clamped down on his right shoulder. “Hey, bud, how are things in bronze-ville?” a voice snickered in his ear. Night groaned. “Hi, Ace. How are things this fine and lovely day?” The light-blue guy with white hair smirked. “I know that tone,” he playfully chuckled. “You in a bad mood again?” “Actually, I was doing pretty well until you showed up,” Night deadpanned. Ace’s smile faltered slightly, but he maintained his composure. “Alright then. Well, good luck today.” “Why, because I need it so bad?” “Alright dude, what the hell is wrong with you?” Night turned to look Ace directly in the eye. “I could ask you the same thing, jerkoff. Why do you always go out of your way to remind me that you’re better than me?” “Dude-” “No, shut up and listen. I’m sick and tired of you. Starting this Saturday, you’re never going to beat me again.” “Night, you’re being an ass right now.” “Am I? Fine, maybe I am. But it’s astonishing how little I value your opinion.” With that, Night stormed off in the direction of the track. Ace stared in shock at what had just transpired. He was still speechless when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Turning, Ace saw a guy with lemon-yellow skin and orange hair give him a sympathetic look. “Can you believe what he just said?!” Ace muttered in disbelief. The yellow guy sighed. “I’ve noticed for a while that Night doesn’t seem to like us, but man was that rude.” “Hey, Blitz?” “Hm?” “I don’t… gloat too much, do I?” Blitz gave Ace an amused look. “What makes you say that?” Ace shrugged his shoulders, sighing. “I was just thinking, what if he’s right? Am I being too showy and making people upset?” Blitz shook his head. “Not even close. It might not be a bad idea to reign it in a little, seeing as Night’s being so pissy, but he had no right to blow up like that. Seems to me like he’s got some issues to sort out.” Ace gave a shrug in response, but appeared to be deep in thought for a moment. Suddenly, realization dawned on him. “Hey, Blitz, you go on ahead. I just remembered I forgot something in the locker.” Blitz nodded and jogged in the direction of the track, leaving Ace alone as he made his way back to the gym locker room. It was lunchtime at Canterlot High School, and a group of five girls were seated at a table together, each with their trays of food in front of them. “So, still no word on Sunset Shimmer?” Applejack asked. “It doesn’t appear so, no,” Rarity replied. “Principal Celestia said she’d let us know any relevant information that the police releases. If she hasn’t come to us yet, then everything must still be under wraps.” “At least we do know that Sunset Shimmer’s been missing because she was suspended,” Fluttershy supplied. “Yeah, we just don’t know for how long or even her whereabouts,” Rainbow Dash stated. “How are we supposed to carry out Twilight’s task of befriending her if we don’t even know where she lives?” “I reckon we’ll just have ta cross that bridge when we come to it,” Applejack said. “Celestia’ll prolly have somethin’ for us in a couple weeks. ‘Till then, we prolly shouldn’t worry ourselves over it.” “Yeah!” Pinkie Pie spoke. “We have other things to worry about for now. Like Dashie’s detention yesterday.” “Yeah, how did that go?” Applejack asked Rainbow. “Any problems with that boy?” “Nah, everything’s good,” Rainbow answered. “Night’s actually an alright guy.” “Well, that’s certainly a relief to hear,” Rarity said. “At least we’re not dealing with some ruffian.” “Not at all. He was pretty sincere with his apology. By the way,” Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy. “He said he was interested in getting to know you. Just to be on a friendly basis with the person he tackled.” “Well, he did seem nice when he was taking me to the nurse,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure I wouldn’t mind meeting him.” “Then go talk to him, silly!” Pinkie jumped in. “He’s right over there.” Pinkie pointed across the cafeteria, where Night and Tonal were sitting at their usual table, chatting. “Wait,” interrupted Rainbow. “Yesterday, I invited him to come over to our table to talk to us, so I think he should do it first.” “And, um… well… I don’t think I’d be comfortable… approaching a boy.” “Sugarcube, nobody’s makin’ you go out there. You can just take it easy. You’ll probably meet up with him again at some point.” Fluttershy smiled. “Thanks, Applejack.” “Still, I thought he would have come over here by now,” Rainbow pouted. “Maybe he really doesn’t care?” “He’s prolly just nervous,” Applejack defended. “Not everybody’s as easygoing as you, RD. Why don’t you just give it another day?” While Rainbow Dash was grumbling to herself, Pinkie’s face lit up. “I know!” she cried. “How about we throw a party for him?” “Darling, that’s your solution for everything,” Rarity said. “Not everything,” Pinkie argued. “That would be the wrong answer to the fifteenth question on today’s math test, which, by the way, was F(b) - F(a) ≈ 0.7497.” Rarity stared at Pinkie for a full ten seconds before finally blinking and shaking her head. “Okay, it’s your solution for everything social.” “While I’m normally not opposed to a Pinkie Pie party, I ain’t so sure it’d be a good idea this time,” Applejack interjected. “I mean, if I’m right and Night ain’t comfortable ‘round mixed company, then I don’t think he’d be too keen on one of yer parties. I mean, he don’t know any of us, and barely even knows RD.” Just as Pinkie’s hair was beginning to deflate, a quiet voice spoke up. “Maybe something a bit more low-key? Like, a night out at a restaurant?” Pinkie’s face lit up once again. “That’s a great idea, Fluttershy! We can all go to Applebuzz and just order appetizers!” “Oh! Maybe Clyde could come along,” Rarity suggested. “You’ll make any excuse to drag your boyfriend into everything, won’t you?” Rainbow snarked. “Well, I think this is a good one. We want Night to be comfortable, so why not bring along some boys that he can relate to? Besides, he’ll need to get to know them sooner or later.” Rainbow thought about Rarity’s argument for a moment before pointing a finger at her. “Alright, you win this one,” she conceded. “I’ll ask Riv later today.” “Yay! Swiftie’s coming! This is going to be the most awesome low-key party ever!” Pinkie cheered.